Side folding accordion partitions are used to provide space separation, often with the additional goal of providing one or more of security separation and sound control.
Panels which form the partition are hinged to one another and attached to ball bearing rollers which ride within a mounted overhead track. A lead panel is attached to a lead post which in turn is attached to a trolley having ball bearing rollers which also rides within the overhead track. Either a powered, or more commonly, a manually operated trolley provides the mechanical action required to open and close the partition.
When the partition is activated, the ball bearing rollers and lead post trolley roll in the overhead track causing the partition to traverse open or closed. The partition may or may not be slidably mounted to a floor channel. A partition slidably mounted to a floor channel ensures that the partition remains in the vertical thereby keeping the sweep at the bottom of the partition in contact with the floor. The floor channel provides lateral stability to the door curtain during travel towards or away from the closed position.
Certain applications require a contiguous floor surface, that is, unbroken by a floor channel. Examples include shop floors where a channel could interfere with rolling carts or emergency egress lanes where a floor channel could create a tripping hazard. In those situations, door assemblies that do not mount the partition to a floor channel are utilized.
Regardless of whether or not a floor channel is utilized, the sweep at the bottom of the partition is used to maintain a predetermined relationship to the floor, thereby, for example, helping to control sound.
Known designs for mounting the sweep to the partition leave an unfinished, sharp surface as further described below. Accordingly, there is still a continuing need for improved designs for mounting the sweep to a partition. The present invention fulfills this need by presenting a novel sweep assembly and further provides related advantages.